The Problem: Investigating illegal / improper activity on your computers and networks

The Guide: Four-step investigative process

The Tools: Demos of Sysinternals, EnCase, and Forensic Toolkit

The Other Tools: Anti-Forensics

Internet connectivity and technological advances are now part of landscapeYour computing resources may be exposedto improper or even criminal activitiesNeed best practices and tools for investigating illegal activityWant to avoid exposing the organization to legal and financial risks

Best practices and tools to conduct computer investigations of suspicious activityTested guidance about collecting, preserving, analyzing, and reporting on key data in investigation

Ray Chow, Enterprise Systems Administrator of Woodgrove National Bank (WNB) Believes information illegally obtained from HR file serverNeeds to use sound investigative methodsWill report findings to upper management

Assess the situationAssess the situation

Acquire key dataAcquire key data

Analyze dataAnalyze data

Report resultsReport results

Decide whether or not to involve law enforcement

Assess the situationAssess the situation

• End internal investigationEnd internal investigation• Contact law enforcementContact law enforcement agency (see appendix)agency (see appendix)• Provide assistanceProvide assistance

Should law Should law enforcement enforcement be involved?be involved?

Continue internal Continue internal investigationinvestigation

Yes

No

Meet with management and legal advisorsCollectively review policies and lawsIdentify possible team membersAssess situation, business impactPrepare to acquire evidence

Assess the situationAssess the situation

Build toolkit, including Sysinternals and Windows toolsCollect evidence of access to HR files at serverCollect volatile evidence at clientCollect evidence of access to HR files at clientConsider data storage protection and archival

Acquire key dataAcquire key data

Analyze data obtained from server Analyze data obtained from host

Analyze dataAnalyze data

Gather all background, documentation, notesIdentify data relevant to investigationIdentify facts that support conclusionList evidence to be submitted in reportList conclusionsBased on above, create report

Report resultsReport results

Sysinternals and Other Tools for Your Investigation

Use to document unauthorized file and folder access

Acquire key dataAcquire key data

Shows what folder permissions a user hasProvides evidence that user has opportunity

Acquire key dataAcquire key data

Shows if a user is logged onto a computing resource

Acquire key dataAcquire key data

Reveals rootkits, which take complete control of a computer and conceal their existence from standard diagnostic tools

Acquire key dataAcquire key data

Allows investigator to remotely obtain information about a user’s computer - without tipping them off or installing any applications on the user’s computer

Acquire key dataAcquire key data

Allows investigator to remotely examine the contents of user’s My Documents folder and any subfolders

Acquire key dataAcquire key data

First and foremost: Kai is not a lawyer. Always consult your local law enforcement agency and legal department first!

Digital forensics is SERIOUS BUSINESSYou can easily shoot yourself in the foot by doing it incorrectly

Get some in-depth training

…this is not in-depth training!!! (Nor is it legal advice. Be smart. The job you save may be your own.)

I just want to spend a few minutes showing you somecommon forensic tools and how they can help

http://www.guidancesoftware.comVery popular in private corporations EnScript Macro Language allows for creation of powerful scripts and filters to automate tasks Safely preview a disk before acquisition Picture gallery shows thumbnails of all images Virtually boot disk image using VMware to allow first-hand view of the system

http://www.accessdata.com/Full indexed searches in addition to Regex searches Preprocess of all files, which makes for faster searchingData is categorized by type (document, image, email, archive, etc.) for easy sorting Ability to rule out “common files” using the Known File Filter plug-inDetection of encrypted/compressed files

The Sleuth Kit (TSK) and AutopsyWritten by Brian Carrier (www.sleuthkit.org)TSK is command line; Autopsy provides GUI for TSK Runs on *nix platforms Client server architecture allows multiple examiners to use one central server Allows basic recovery of deleted data and searching Lots of manual control to the investigator, but is light on the automation

Helix (e-fense)Customized Knoppix disk that is forensically safe Includes improved versions of ‘dd’ Terminal windows log everything for good documentation Includes Sleuthkit, Autopsy, chkrootkit, and others Includes tools that can be used on a live Windows machine, including precompiled binaries and live acquisition tools

Be Aware of activity in the Anti-Forensics area!! There are active efforts to produce tools to thwart your forensic investigation.

Metasploit’s Anti-Forensic Toolkit*, Defiler’s Toolkit, etc.

Timestomp

Transmogrify

Slacker

SAM juicer

Stay Alert! Stay Alive!Stay Alert! Stay Alive!

*Courtesy of Vinnie Liu at Metasploit Project.

Security Minded – Kai’s Bloghttp://blogs.technet.com/kaiaxford

File System Forensic Analysis. Brian Carrier ISBN: 0-321-26817-2

Digital Evidence and Computer Crime. Eoghan Casey. ISBN: 012162885X

Fundamental Computer Investigation Guide For Windows http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/guidance/disasterrecovery/computer_investigation/default.mspx

Incident Response: Investigating Computer Crime. Kevin Mandia & Chris ProsiseISBN: 007222696X

Hacking Exposed: Computer Forensics. Chris Davis, Aaron PhillipISBN: 0072256753

“How Online Criminals Make Themselves Tough to Find, Near Impossible to Nab”. Berinato, Scott. May 2007. http://www.cio.com

© 2007 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft, Windows, Windows Vista and other product names are or may be registered trademarks and/or trademarks in the U.S. and/or other countries.The information herein is for informational purposes only and represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation as of the date of this presentation. Because Microsoft must respond to changing market

conditions, it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Microsoft, and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information provided after the date of this presentation. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION.